The present invention relates to a film image editing apparatus that reads from a developed photographic film a plurality of images photographed on the photographic film.
Heretofore, there has been available an apparatus wherein a plurality of images are inputted and they are edited according to a predetermined layout to be outputted as shown in Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 21383/1992.
In the above-mentioned apparatus, however, images (documents) are inputted from an input drum and then edited images are outputted, which means that the apparatus is not based on the assumption that images photographed on the photographic film are pre-processed. In addition, images photographed on a photographic film are usually in various sizes of plural kinds including normal picture size (full size), a panorama size which is oblong (i.e. long from side to side) and a half size. Therefore, it has been difficult to apply the apparatus.
In recent years, in particular, photographs in panorama size employing directly a 35 mm film which is most popular as a photographic film have become popular.
In the panorama size, upper and lower portions in a normal picture size (full size, 24 mm.times.36 mm) on a 35 mm film are light-shielded to create an oblong picture size (13 mm.times.36 mm). In addition, a low-aspect-ratio size (20 mm.times.36 mm) having an aspect ratio of 9;16 has also made its appearance. Incidentally, in the case of a print in L size from a full size image, a photographic paper size is 89 mm.times.127 mm, while that from a panorama size is 89 mm.times.254 mm and that from a low-aspect-ratio size is 89 mm.times.158 mm.
Further, there are also some cases wherein photographing in a half size wherein two pictures are recorded on a single picture area is carried out.
As stated above, the same 35 mm film can be used to provide has therein various picture sizes such as a full size, an oblong size (a panorama size and a low-aspect-ratio size), and a half size. In addition, there has recently been commercialized a camera wherein normal photographing (full size photographing) and panorama size photographing can be switched in the course of photographing on a single roll of film, thus a film having therein different picture sizes has made its appearance.
Therefore, it is necessary to detect a picture size and to conduct image processing based on the detected picture size when reading from a developed photographic film the images photographed on the film and editing them.
The editing apparatus as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Examined Publication mentioned above is one wherein a display indicates only images after editing. In the case of editing, therefore, it is not possible to observe inputted images which were actually read. Accordingly, it is necessary to put inputted images in order and to decide a layout before conducting a work which requires skillfulness and is specialized. With the background mentioned above, easy editing work has been desired.
In some cases, image colors are required to be corrected in the course of editing, and Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection No. 272755/1987 (hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication) discloses one wherein color correction by means of cursor input or the like on a color chart is made for each picture area and a point is designated on each picture area so that color before correction and color after correction on the designated point may be indicated for judging whether the correction has been made appropriately or not.
However, even in the case of the color correction mentioned above, there still is an occasion where actual color correction level is determined by the sixth sense of an operator who repeats his work to change an amount of correction after observing the corrected color. Therefore, it is difficult to finish color correction through a single operation, which has been troublesome.
With regard to the foregoing, a requirement for color correction is well-defined to a certain extent on images, including a demand for correct colors of human skins, blue sky and green forest, and there has been demanded a method of simple color correction.
In view of the situation mentioned above, an object of the invention is to provide a film image editing apparatus which can read correctly images photographed on a photographic film and edit them even in the case where each photographic film has a different picture size or the same photographic film has different picture sizes.
Further object of the invention is to make editing work easy by enabling an operator to edit while observing actually plural images which have been read from a developed photographic film and are on standby for editing, and further to make image correction (especially, color correction) and layout editing easy.